Women’s History Month - Leading Female Historian Manisha Sinha Shares Women in History She Admires
Celebrate Women’s History Month with us - today’s woman dreamer, Manisha Sinha is a renowned historian, currently serving as the Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut. A talented award-winning author, her recent book, The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition was featured as the editor’s choice in The New York Times Book Review, and was one of three great History books in Bloomberg News. In honor of Women’s History Month, she shares a day in her life as a historian, why history excites her and three women in history she admires!
1.Tell us your story. You are a historian currently in the role of Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut. What inspired your interest in studying history?
My father is a historian and so are all my siblings. My mother was an Indian nationalist who only wore Khadi. History was always the main topic conversation at our family dinner table. I guess my interest in history was literally in my genes.
2. Given Women's History month is coming up in March, who are 3 women in history that you personally believe every woman must know, and why?
It's really difficult to choose just three women since I admire so many, but if I had to I would choose.
Rani of Jhansi who fought against the British
Angelina Grimke the American abolitionist feminist
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper the black abolitionist feminist and writer
I would also mention other pioneering feminists from around the world. Miraben in India, Mary Wollstonecraft in Britian, Olympe De Gouges in France, and Margert Fuller in the US.
3.As a renowned historian and author, what does a day in the life look like for you?What is your advice to budding historians?
My days are either consumed with teaching or writing with many zoom meetings interrupting them! I also do zumba at least for an hour a day as I am usually sitting in front of my computer most pf the day!
My advice to budding historians is that since history is mainly the stories we tell about the past and ourselves, to choose to research and write a subject they feel most passionate about. You will be living with the topic you choose for a long time so it is best to choose one that you care deeply about.
4. What are some women's history topics you would like to explore deeper in your career?
I would love to write a history of feminism.
5. As the platform for women dreamers, what is your next big dream?
My next big dream is to start writing fiction!
Thank you Manisha for sharing your story with us! We are excited to have you in our global women’s network!
Manisha Sinha is the Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut. She was born in India and received her Ph.D from Columbia University where her dissertation was nominated for the Bancroft prize. She taught at the University of Massachusetts for over twenty years where she received the Chancellor’s Medal, the highest honor bestowed on faculty. She is the author of The Counterrevolution of Slavery: Politics and Ideology in Antebellum South Carolina (University of North Carolina Press, 2000), which was named one of the ten best books on slavery in Politico in 2015 and featured in The New York Times 1619 Project. Her recent book, the multiple awardswinning The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition (Yale University Press, 2016) was long listed for the National Book Award for Non-Fiction. The Slave’s Cause was widely reviewed in the mainstream press and was featured as the editor’s choice in The New York Times Book Reviewas well as one of three great History books in Bloomberg News. Professor Sinha has published and been interviewed in national and international media. She is the author and editor of several other books and articles. She is also the recipient of numerous awards including two fellowshipsfrom the National Endowment for the Humanities and two from the Mellon Foundation. In 2018, she was a visiting Professor at the University of Paris, Diderot and in 2021, she received the James W.C. Pennington award from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. A historian of the long nineteenth century, her research interests lie specifically in the transnational histories of slavery, abolition, and feminism and the history and legacy of the Civil War and Reconstruction. She is currently writing a book on the Reconstruction of American democracy after the Civil War under contract with Liveright (WW Norton).
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